Casper Ruud has been winning matches lately, but none of it went smoothly, and today he was actually beaten by Arthur Fils in spectacular fashion.
Fils has been known as a very promising player for quite some time though it was only this year that he started to show that potential among the best players on the ATP Tour. The Frenchman plays well on all surfaces and he has a really strong serve and good forehand.
He's kind of similar to Ruud in the sense that much of his game depends on the forehand but today, at the 2023 Hamburg Open, he was much better than Ruud. The Norwegian has been playing solid tennis lately, making his way to the Bastad Open final, where he was beaten by Andrey Rublev. He continued winning in Hamburg but was beaten today by a very inspired Fils.
The first two matches from Ruud saw him lose a set 6-1, which is very unusual for such a noted clay specialist. It indicated some issues in his game, and Fils showed that as well. The French rising phenom smashed Ruud 6-0 in the opening set, which was incredible to see because it just doesn't happen that often.
He's got a pretty solid game that doesn't allow him to get blown out that easily though that was the case in the opening set. Fils simply outplayed him from the baseline utilizing his power to overpower the Norwegian in most rallies.
The second set was quite a bit competitive as Ruud managed to find better solutions, but he faltered in the crucial game down 4-5, giving Fils three consecutive break points. The French player used the first match point to secure this fantastic win.
The final score was 6-0 6-4 for Fils, who handed Ruud his second bagel in two weeks as he moves on to face Alexander Zverev in the semi-final.
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